Logistics

Nuts and Bolts

The information here is meant to serve as a guideline for Operational and Logistics issues surrounding your program. Volunteers, securing the route, purchases and delivering services like signage and volunteers kits, it is all here. Keep in mind that every city is different, so this is meant to be more of a guide than hard and fast rules.

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Volunteer Roles and Responsibilities

Volunteers are the backbone of any Open Streets program. But where do you start? Where can you find volunteers? What tasks should each volunteer do? This tool will help you answer that question!

Using the descriptions below and the accompanying graphic, you can easily calculate the minimum number of volunteers you will need at your Open Streets program. We suggest creating a master volunteer map of where each volunteer should be.

Be sure to check with the body issuing your permits to confirm where you can use volunteers and where police or traffic officers are necessary.

Block Captains

Position Description:

On a bicycle, oversee all volunteers within a segment of the open streets route (the length of that segment will be dependent on the length of your route – typically 1-2 miles/2-3km)

Ensure there are enough volunteers for that segment and that they are fulfilling their responsibilities

Each Block Captain should have a volunteer map of the route segment they are responsible for.

Be prepared to address any issues that might arise within their segment of the route

Block Captains need to be very responsible and trusted volunteers. Ideally the volunteers in this position would be trusted community leaders who are pre-selected.

Roving Cyclists

Position Description:

Circulate through a portion (1-2 miles/2-3km) of route for duration of an Open Streets day

Encourage people to move into the roadway and off of the sidewalks when the program begins

Set-up & Take Down

Position Description:

Assist with set-up or take-down of barricades, signage, tents, activity hubs, cones, clean up, and other operational logistics before and after the event.

The quantity of these volunteers depends on the length of your route, the required equipment to close your street, the process of setting up and taking down the program, and how complex your complementary activity hubs are logistically.

Other Route Specific Volunteers

Your route might require extra support in specific areas i.e. asking people to slow down on a hill, or asking cyclists to dismount in a pedestrian area, coordinating complementary activities, etc. These positions will be specific to your program.

Volunteer Training

Ideally, it’s great to meet your volunteers before the first date of your Open Streets program. That way you have a better understanding of what positions individuals will be best suited for. Consider hosting a couple of volunteer training options where you can brief individuals about the program and they have the opportunity to ask questions about their positions.

We suggest creating a core curriculum that all volunteers will receive that includes the following information:

What is Open Streets? (1-2 sentences they can use to describe the program to people who ask)

What is (insert name of your Open Streets) all about? (I.e. Open Streets Thunder Bay is a program that will open Algoma Street from John street to Boulevard Lake to people on July 12th and September 14th to walk, run and play…)

What the route is and where the activity hubs are

What intersections are open for traffic, where transit routes have detoured, and other important travel information that might be relevant to participants

Emergency situation protocol

Necessary character and demeanor when dealing with participants

Mandatory arrival time, appropriate clothing and footwear, what resources they will be receiving (i.e. t-shirt, snack?)

Where restroom facilities will be, protocol for breaks, etc.

After each volunteer receives the above information they should be briefed on the specifics of their volunteer role and responsibility. Use the information above to guide the education of volunteers in each role.

Give some thought to what you want volunteers to leave their training with. These things could be:

Information sheet about your open streets program

Instructions for the day they will be volunteering (arrival time, duties of their position, where to check in and get their necessary tools, etc.)

Contact info for who they should contact if they have questions, cannot make it, etc.

Swag to share with friends

Encouragement to connect with your Open Streets program’s social media platforms to heighten the conversation about the program

Volunteer Recruiting

Once you know how many volunteers you will need for your program you’ll have to find that number of people to fill the positions! Where might you find them? Think about the kind of people you want to volunteer, what groups are already advocates of your Open Streets program, and who might have people willing to volunteer at your program or would be willing to spread the word about it?

These groups might include:

High schools, colleges, universities, and other educational institutions

Job Boards

Local Businesses

Volunteer centres

Active transportation advocates

Local leaders and their networks

The easiest method to register individuals as volunteers is to have them fill out an online form with their information. This will help facilitate communication and management.

At a bare minimum you should ask for the following information from prospective volunteers:

Name

Are they under or over 18

Preferred volunteer position

Phone number

Email

Availability

Postal code

Other questions that could be helpful include:

Do they own and bicycle and feel comfortable riding it during open streets and with traffic?

Why are they interested in Open Streets?

Are they using Open Streets to fulfill community service hours?

Be sure that you have a system in place to respond when prospective volunteers fill out your online form. Likely, this will be an automatic reply email expressing your thanks for volunteering and that someone will be in touch soon or lists the dates for volunteer training sessions.

Sometimes it’s challenging to find enough volunteers to staff your Open Streets program but anything is possible! Check out these innovative ideas to fill volunteer positions. Do you have an innovative way to recruit volunteers? Share it with us!

Timeline

Below is a ‘best-case scenario’ timeline. Keep in mind you may have much more time, or much less time, than described below due to a number of variables: You may not have your route solidified until a couple of months before; you may be holding your breath for funding until a few weeks before; or, you may not officially receive your street closure permit until just days before. In these cases, it’s normal to worry, but do not panic! The MOST important things are:

You need a safe and secure route

And you need people on it (For more information on this check out our marketing tool!

Develop volunteer plan—they play a key role in your traffic management strategy.

3 months before

Launch call for volunteers

Source program materials which may include:

Volunteer uniforms, T-Shirts, etc.

Signage and banners (*Tip: when possible, keep your signs and banners generic (ie. No dates) so that they can be re-used for future program dates. Also limit numbers of signage and banners to simplify set-up and take-down.)

Barricade tape, zip ties, zip tie cutters

Radios/walkie-talkies (rent or purchase)

Storage Tubs and/or large bags for delivery of materials during program dates

Volunteer materials (water, snacks)

A company to conduct the road closure or source barricades, road closure signs, and people to set up the road closure on the day of the program. (*Tip: some programs have purchased their own barricades, which is a large upfront cost but will lower the costs of the program over time. They are then renting them to other street closure events to generate funds for the open streets program.)

Source, if necessary (these will increase the expense of the program, so you may want to think creatively about how to lower the costs of each item):

Towing companies (for vehicles parked on the route)

A tent (or trailer), table, and chairs to centralize your team on the program day (rentals or purchase)

Private EMS service/security service if necessary.

Portable toilets (can you find businesses along the route that would be willing to advertise their washrooms to participants?)

Water re-fill station (can you find businesses along the route that would be willing to advertise that participants could fill a water bottle there?)